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Monday, November 9, 2026

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Models · Monday, November 9, 2026

Thinking Machines introduces Inkling 2 Small and plans downloads next week

The File desk · Nov. 9, 2026, 6:46 a.m. ET

Partially confirmed1 primary sourcesAdded 6:46 a.m. ET, Nov. 9

Status

Partially confirmed. Thinking Machines Lab's post, dated November 5, 2026, describes Inkling 2 Small and says the full weights are planned for an Apache 2.0 release next week after safety testing. The score of 31 and the comparison with earlier models are the company's claims. This desk did not run the model.
  • Confirmed
    The post is dated Nov 5, 2026, and it states the parameter counts, the Tinker release, the closed weights, and the Apache 2.0 plan.
  • Partially confirmed
    The Artificial Analysis score of 31 is the company's claim. This desk did not run the model.
Thinking Machines Lab introduced a new model called Inkling 2 Small on Thursday, November 5, 2026.1 The lab says it intends to make the full model available for download next week, after outside safety testing and red-teaming.1
The lab says Inkling 2 Small is a mixture-of-experts model with 594 billion parameters in total.1 Parameters are the numbers that make up the model, and a mixture-of-experts model stores a large set of them but uses only a smaller set on each input. For Inkling 2 Small, the lab says, that smaller set is 17 billion.1 The lab also says the model takes images and a variable amount of effort.1
The lab says the model scored 31 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, above its earlier models.1 That score is the company's claim.
Why it matters (Estimate). Estimate. If the weights are released, other labs and companies can inspect and run the model themselves. Until that release, the lab says, only its own service has it. The next-week date is the company's plan, not a release this desk has seen.
Inkling 2 Small will first be available through Tinker, with closed weights, which means outsiders cannot download it yet.1 Open weights means people can download the model rather than only calling it through the company's service. The lab says it intends to make the full weights available under an Apache 2.0 license next week.1
How we know

Notes

  1. 1.Thinking Machines Lab, Introducing Inkling 2 Small, dated Nov 5, 2026. "It is a Mixture-of-Experts model with 594B total parameters, 17B active, and supports image inputs and variable effort." "Inkling 2 Small far surpasses our previous models' scores on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index with a score of 31." "Inkling 2 Small will initially be available through Tinker, with closed weights." "We intend to make the full weights available under an Apache 2.0 license next week after the completion of external safety testing and red-teaming." Retrieved 6:26 a.m. ET, Nov. 9. https://thinkingmachines.ai/news/inkling-2-small/

What is still unknown or disputed

  • Whether the weights were released after this post. The page says next week, after testing. This desk did not find a weights file.
  • Whether the score of 31 would hold on a run this desk controlled. It is the company's figure.

Primary sources

Every claim in this story is drawn from the documents below. If a fetch failed, that is recorded on the card.

  1. Source 1

    Introducing Inkling 2 Small

    Thinking Machines Lab · November 5, 2026

    A mixture-of-experts model with 594 billion total parameters and 17 billion active. Score of 31 on the company's citation of the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index. Closed weights on Tinker first. Apache 2.0 weights intended next week after safety testing.

    https://thinkingmachines.ai/news/inkling-2-small/